McDowell won on a play-off after finishing tied for 18 under par alongside Russell Knox and Jason Bohn.
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It’s a first PGA Tour title and first top ten finish in more than a year for the Portrush golfer. “I’ve been enjoying life off the golf course with my lovely family”.
The second-ranked South Korean star hit a 7-iron to 3 feet to set up a birdie on the par-3 16th, and made a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th.
“There’s no doubt I doubted myself many times this year, but the last few months has been much more where I want to be”, he said. “I could tell from the audience it was a pretty good shot and thankfully it wasn’t much longer than a two-and-a-half footer left to take care of it”.
McDowell held his nerve, though, to head to the clubhouse on 18 under, with all the pressure on Knox who needed just a par on 18 to win but landed his approach shot short of the final green.
When the final round was brought to a premature close McDowell and Knox were leading the field by two shots on 19-under. Bohn (68) saved par on the final hole to join the playoff.
Varner produced a brilliant round to surge into contention on the back of 10 birdies and just the one bogey. “The takeaway is the game’s in really good shape”, McDowell said.
McDowell has five holes to play, while Knox must complete six holes.
Fathauer was the leader after three rounds at 16-under-par 197. First, caddie Ken Comboy talked McDowell into hitting a 5-iron, whereas his player favored a 6-iron because of adrenaline.
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Is Graeme McDowell right to put the PGA Tour ahead of the European Tour, despite heading into a Ryder Cup year? But the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland had such a mediocre season that he returned to America to get a head start on the new PGA Tour season.
